Is it politics, or is it standing on principle?

Austintown Trustee Lisa Oles walked out of a closed-door meeting with her two colleagues Tuesday and, thus, did not cast a vote on a salary increase for department heads. That was a mistake.
Oles, who has been in office since January, should have learned by now that the more she publicly stands up to trustees Bo Pritchard and David Ditzler on the issue of pay raises for township employees, the more her political stock rises with the taxpayers. That's because private sector workers can only dream of the increases and other largess that have become the hallmark of government everywhere.
In Austintown, this has been the year of the bottomless money pit. From department heads, to workers in the park and road departments, to part-time firefighters, to clerical staff, the good times just kept rolling. According to township Clerk Michael Kurish, the three-year contracts, which all include wage increases, will cost government between $200,000 and $300,000 a year. That figure reflects wages, the township's contribution to the public employees' pension, hospitalization premiums, and worker's compensation premiums.
Kurish noted that the township will end this year with a $300,000 carry over. "In the worst case situation we will be able to cover our bases," he said. The clerk should have added this proviso: For 2005. The carryover is not a guaranteed annual occurrence.
Road resurfacing
What if government should stumble financially next year? "We could decide not to do road resurfacing," Kurish said. He did point out that the township stands to benefit from the school construction projects and also gained from construction that occurred in Austintown this year.
But there is uncertainty, which is why the decision by trustees Pritchard and Ditzler to approve salary increases for the township administrator, fire chief, police chief, zoning inspector and maintenance supervisor -- the 3 percent a year is retroactive of January -- must be questioned. Which is what Oles did.
However, she should have stuck to her guns, engaged Pritchard in verbal battle and then publicly voted no.
As she correctly pointed out, department heads received their last raise in 2002, with some of them getting as much as a 5 percent increase.
She had proposed a one-time $2,000 bonus for the five individuals and a reassessment of the situation next year after the township's financial picture became clearer. Indeed, two of the five, Police Chief Gordon Ellis and Maintenance Supervisor Russell Pallotta have not been at work for half the year. Ellis is on military leave and Pallotta is out with an injury.
Add to that the fact that the township administrator not only received the 3 percent raises, but also is getting a $2,000 bonus for serving as interim road superintendent, and it's clear that Pritchard and Ditzler may have thrown caution to the wind.
Did they forget that the voters in Austintown not only turned down a 2.5-mill police levy in March, but also voted against the renewal of the 0.5 percent county sales tax last month?
And did it not cross their minds when they were tossing around public dollars so freely that the police contract is up next year? Does anyone believe that the police will agree to a freeze?
Government contracts are like a runaway train. There's no stopping them.
So to the question posed in the headline regarding Oles' action Tuesday, the answer is clear: She's standing on principle and isn't playing politics with the issue of wages and benefits.